When it comes to holidays and DUIs, New Year’s Eve may be the king. People typically attend a party, have a few drinks and figure they’re safe to drive. Even those who don’t drink heavily usually ring in the new year with a toast and that can be enough to cause a car accident. Even with all the warnings to not drink and drive on this holiday, every New Year’s Day starts with a few tragic stories of innocents who lost their lives. This New Year’s Eve was no different in Oklahoma.
A second person has passed away because of a crash caused by a drunk driver on New Year’s Eve. The woman was a former foreign exchange student and was riding with her host mother at the time of the accident. The woman was rushed to the hospital and fought valiantly for a number of days before the decision was made to remove her from life support. Her host mother was killed in the crash as well.
The suspected drunk driver is facing a slew of charges including one for second-degree murder. The most shocking fact in this tragedy, though, is that the accused drunk driver had been arrested for a DUI on four other occasions.
Sadly, in cases like these the family is left to pick up the pieces both emotionally and financially. That’s where an attorney can help. A lawyer can conduct his or her own investigation into the accident and may be able to help the victims recover compensation for pain and suffering, lost wages and funeral costs.
Source: kfor.com, “Second woman dies after New Year’s Eve DUI crash in Oklahoma City,” Nadia Judith Enchassi, January 15, 2017